Sengoku musô

One of the things I love about the KOEI games is the way they always combine deep story/history and really cool characters with a fun, easily accessible action genre.

This game, I found, is far more story-orientated than the Dynasty Warriors series. You follow the 15 characters through each of their own story lines, with some amazing FMV sequences and interesting cut-scenes, and the characters themselves are all very diverse and unique, with a wide range of abilities.

In each of the battles you are given (and also have to find) certain complex missions which you must fulfil in order to affect the outcome of the battle. The missions you accomplish often affect the path you're character takes, and they generally give the battles more of an aim than in previous KOEI games and are usually a lot of fun to do and quite intriguing. At the end of each battle you are given a grade based on you're timing, the amount of people killed by your musou attacks (which isn't very fair as some characters have far better musou attacks than others), items collected and missions completed. In between battles you can use experience points you have earned to buy new skills for your characters, which is a really rewarding process.

The main problem with the game is the sound. The in-battle music is awful, made up of annoying, repetitive low-beat rock tunes, and would really suit something sounding a little more authentic and climactic. The voice acting is a mixture of very good and very bad, with a few characters sounding horrible and some others really miscast, although I did enjoy the voices of Nobunaga, Noh, Hanzo, Yukimura and Mitsuhide and thought they added a lot of personality to their characters.

All in all, Samurai Warriors is experimental in its combination of action and strategy and if its a very sophisticated action or strategy game you're looking for, then you might not be entirely satisfied with this game. If however, you appreciate fun, interesting characters and a dramatic, interactive plot with lots of Japanese history this is the game to play.

Where to start on Samurai Warriors...wow. I first started playing this game when I was 13 in '04 when this first came out and never before played Dynasty Warriors either. I assumed I was going to be bored with it since it was a present, but boy was I wrong! Samurai Warriors is in a class all it's own, and I definitely recommend it! I am also now a proud veteran/gamer of the "Warrior" series.

Game play: If like me you were a notice at these kinds of games, it is pretty easy to pick up on. If however you've played DW in the past, this should be no problem. Weapons are a delight along with Weapon Element add ons. (8/10) Graphics- Although the graphics were good in 2004, they are not the best, but not the worst now. They are fun to look at, nicely seamed together and not too glitchy either. (7/10) Voice Acting- I personally thought the voice acting was well done and fit the characters, especially Kim Strauss as Hattori Hanzo. Most, if not all the VA have been used in DW past games. (9/10) This game is really a delight and although not really historically accurate, it somehow makes everything work out. A great game and a fin time.

Final rating: 8/10

Samurai Warriors, a Japanese spin off of the game Dynasty Warriors, has taken the fans a new time place where war was truly a must, and the battle of supremacy and unification is in order. Based on the Sengoku (or the Warring States) period of 16th Century Japan, they give the historical and the casual gamers a new breath of fresh air to be playing from the anti-hero Nobunaga to the Justice-wielding Yukimura. The game did impress me as a Koei and a history fan. Good start.

Plot: The game concentrates more on the characters, much to the dismay on the historically accurate. It made sure their personalities are on different paths, yet stay still knit-close, unlike a full-kingdom story in DW4. (9/10)

Gameplay: The game play is Dynasty Warriors, itself. But the Battles are based on missions for a plus that makes the game harder yet more challenging. And how well one plays affect also on the outcome in the endings. (8/10)

Music: The Music was okay for its part. It wasn't a rocker-styled theme like Dynasty Warriors, and yet still feels Japan about it. (8/10)

Voices: The voices were a mild problem. Even if the voices matches most of the Dynasty Warriors Characters, some voices were very horrible. Ranmaru Mori, the game's token androgyny, for example. His voice had the right gender unlike his voice successors (who were later voiced by women), but it sounded high pitched and pretty much homosexual, giving away his character too early. But some voices fit well enough like Kunoichi's and Noh's. (5/10)

Characters: How they put in the characters give in to a anime-like feel. Where they have well-made personalities, and such. Oichi was still young in her looks then, and she has stunned me. So did Kunoichi and Goemon, but then, wondering how they got deleted in the sequel was a question. The designs were also good, sadly Nobunaga looked like a Black-clothed Superman, seeing...scary muscles. (8/10)

Overall: (8/10) To conclude, it gave a new face to the Fans who want more history, and it sure did make Koei well-received at some points. It takes Japanese history a whole new meaning of awesome.